2

General
Biology 2 12
General Biology 2 – Grade 12
Quarter 3 – Module 17: The Cladistic Systems
First Edition, 2020

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General
Biology 2
12
Quarter 3
Module 17
The Cladistic System
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the General Biology 2 of Grade 12 Module 17 on The Cladistic System!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators from
Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its Officer-In-Charge Schools Division
Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin in partnership with the Local
Government of Pasig through its mayor, Honorable Vico Sotto.
The writers utilized the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum using the Most
Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) while overcoming their personal, social,
and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of
the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module.
You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage
their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners
as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:

Welcome to the General Biology 2 Module 17 on The Cladistic System!

The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often
used to depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create
and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a
learner is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies
and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for
guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to
process the contents of the learning material while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectation - These are what you will be able to know after

completing the lessons in the module

Pre-test - This will measure your prior knowledge and the

concepts to be mastered throughout the lesson.

Recap - This section will measure what learnings and skills

that you understand from the previous lesson.

Lesson- This section will discuss the topic for this module.

Activities - This is a set of activities you will perform.

Wrap Up- This section summarizes the concepts and

applications of the lessons.
Valuing-this part will check the integration of values in the
learning competency.

Post-test - This will measure how much you have learned from
the entire module. Ito po ang parts ng module
 EXPECTATION
After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. define cladistics; and

2. recognize the different units of cladograms; and
3. appreciate how diverse organisms are named, described, and classified.

PRETEST

Directions: Read the statements/questions comprehensively and choose the

letter of the best answer. Write the answer on the separate sheet of paper.
________1. The science of cladistics produces a system for naming and classifying
organisms.
A. True C. cannot tell
B. False D. either A or B
________2. A clade is labeled as _____ because each one only consists of certain
organisms
A. diphyletic C. paraphyletic
B. monophyletic D. triphyletic
________3 A cladogram is a chart that shows ___________.
A. the basics of cladistics C. many family trees
B. many clades combined D. the family tree of organisms
______ 4. What is a shared derived trait?
A. A trait shared by all outgroup taxa
B. A physical trait shared by sister taxa
C. A physical trait shared by all organisms of that particular taxon
D. A recent trait shared by all sister taxa and their most recent
outgroup
_______5. According to the phylogenetic tree, which
organisms are the least related to
each other evolutionarily?
A. Trilobita and Insecta
B. Insecta and Myriapoda
C. Insecta and Crustacea
D. Trilobita and Chelicerata
 RECAP
Activity 13.1. Direction: Arrange the following taxa from the highest-lowest
taxonomic hierarchy.
Species Order Class Domain
Family Kingdom Genus Phylum

LESSON

During the earlier days, systematist constructed phylogenetic tree diagrams

by comparing as many characteristics as possible among species. Those organisms
with the most characteristics in common would be placed close to each other on the
tree’s branches. However, a tree based solely on similarities can be misleading. Let
us take this for example, many types of cave animals are eyeless and lack pigments.
But these similarities do not suggest that the species who live in caves are closely
related to each other but are the result of convergent evolution. If the aim of the
classification system is to group similar species together, then it can lead to an
incorrect classification by addressing only similarities.
This problem was solved by using cladistic approach. Beginning in the
1990’s, cladistics is a phylogenetic system that defines groups by distinguishing
between ancestral and derived characteristics. Ancestral characters are attributes
of species that are old and have been retained from a common ancestor. In cladistics
studies, these ancestral traits are homologies that are common to all members of a
group and indicate a shared ancestry. These common characters are called

Ancestral Characteristics (for placental
mammals). Features present in the
ancestors of placental mammals; these
features may also be present in
monotremes and/or marsupials.
symplesiomorphies (Gr. sym together + plesio,
near + morphe, form). Derived characters on
the other hand, are attributes different from
those found in the group’s ancestor. Derived
characters shared by members of a group are
called synapomorphies (Gr. syn together +
apo, near + morphe, form). In making
diagram, how do researchers know which
Derived Characteristics (for placental characters are ancestral and which are
mammals). Features of placental
mammals that are different from those in
other mammals; arose after the derived? Cladists look for a related group of
placental/marsupial split.

Figure 17. 1. Ancestral and Derived Characters. The placenta is a derived character that was not present in the included in the study group. For example, in a
common ancestor that placental mammals share with marsupials and monotremes.

cladistic analysis of mammals that give birth

to live young, an appropriate outgroup might be monotremes (Fig.17.1). Features
that are present in all mammals, such as mammary glands and hair, are assumed
to be ancestral features. For placental mammals, derived features would include the
placenta other characteristics that do not appear in monotremes and marsupials.
The result of a cladistics analysis is a cladogram, a tree-like diagram that
depict a sequence in the origin of derived characters. The basic unit of the cladogram
is the clade, a group of organisms consisting of a common ancestor and all of its
descendants. Hence, a clade is a group of organisms linked by a single evolutionary
pathway. Modern birds, for example, form a clade since they all descended from the
same group of reptiles. A clade may contain any number of species as long as all of
its members share an ancestor that organisms outside the clade do not share.
All cladograms share common features. The tips of the branches represent
taxa. Existing species, such as birds and turtles, are at the tip of longer branches
showed in Figure 17.2; the nonbird dinosaurs are extinct and therefore occupy a
shorter branch. Each node in a cladogram indicates where two groups arose from a

Taxa at branch tip

Figure 17. 2. Reading a Cladogram. Each clade consists of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. The more recently any two groups shared a
common ancestor, the more closely related they are.Source:McGraw-Hill Education, 2016
diverge genetically, splitting off to form a new species. The branching pattern also
implies the passage of time, as indicated by the arrow at the bottom (Fig. 17.2).
The emphasis in a cladogram is not physical similarities but rather historical
relationships. To emphasize this point, imagine a lizard, a crocodile and a chicken.
Which resembles the lizard more closely: the crocodile or the chicken? Apparently,
lizard and crocodile resemble each other more. But these similarities are only
superficial. The shared derived characters tell a more complete story of evolutionary
history. Based on the evidence, crocodiles are more closely related to birds than they
are to lizards.
A common mistake in interpreting cladograms is to incorrectly assume that a
taxon must be closely related to both groups that appear next to it on the tree. For
example, in Figure 17.2 mammals are adjacent to both turtles and amphibians. Does
this mean that rabbits are as closely related to frogs as they are to tortoises? To find
out, look at the amount of time that has passed since mammals last shared a
common ancestor with each group. Because the common ancestor of mammals and
turtles existed more recently, these groups are more closely related than are
mammals and amphibians.

Rules in Constructing Cladogram

Rule 1. The branches at every node can be
rotated. The branches do not infer any sort
of order; they indicate only how recent are the
common descendants (Fig.17.4).
Rule 2. Two lineages branching from a
Figure 17.4. Different graphic representation of cladograms.
single ancestral node are known as sister Whether a tree is upright, on its side or drawn as an emerging
spiral, the information is essentially the same. Nodes represent
taxa. Further specialization after a branch common ancestor of taxa (branches) above them on the tree,
and endpoints represent taxa ---whether extinct or extant---in
point is inappropriate. Therefore, it would be the phylogeny. Source: Rea & Dagamac, 2017

improper to say that humans evolved more recently than chimpanzees or that
humans should be placed in their own family simply because they seem so different
from chimpanzees . Note that common ancestry is the main basis of taxonomic
groupings and not based on subjective perceptions of specialization.
Rule 3. There is no such thing as a “most highly evolved species.” All extant
species descended from successful ancestors, and evolved to survive and reproduce
in the context of their specific environment. Evolution is a process it has neither a
goal nor a subjective value system.
Rule 4. No extant or extinct taxon is considered ancestral to any other extant
or extinct taxon. Nodes represent hypothetical ancestors, not taxonomic units.
When an ancestral lineage diverges to become two separate taxa, the ancestral
lineage (hypothetical ancestor) is considered extinct, even if one of the descendant
taxa is virtually the same as that hypothetical ancestor. When one hears the often-
repeated yet false argument that "humans evolved from monkeys," this should be
recalled. They did not. A common ancestor is shared by humans and monkeys.

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 17.2.

Directions: Identify what is being describe in the following statements.

________________1. Group of organisms that includes an ancestor species and all of

its descendants.
________________2. Organisms that are not part of the group being studied.
________________3. Traits inherited from a common ancestor.
________________4. Traits that evolved since two groups shared a common ancestor.
________________5. Method of making evolutionary trees based on traits of ancestor
and descendant species.
________________6. A tree represented as a branching hierarchical relationship.
Activity 17.3. Find your answers above in the word search box below.

WRAP–UP

Activity 17.4.

I. Differentiate ancestral traits from derived traits.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
II. Illustrate and label the parts of a cladogram.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
 VALUING

Activity 17.6.
Directions: Trace your ancestry by making a family tree. Relate this in creating
cladograms. Why is this important?

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

POST TEST

Direction: Read each question carefully and choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. Cladistics help to organize organisms based on shared homologous

characteristics. Which of the following is considered FALSE when
looking at a cladogram?
A. A clade is also considered a monophyletic group.
B. A clade can stem from multiple points on phylogenetic tree.
C. A clade can share both derived and ancestral characteristics.
D. A clade can contain multiple groups or just one single group of
organisms.

_________2. When using a cladistic approach to systematics, which of the following

is considered most important for classification?
A. shared primitive characters C. shared derived characters
B. analogous primitive characters D. overall phenotypic similarity

_________3. Which of the following terms is related to cladistics?

A. synaphomorphic characters C. nested hierarchy
B. primitive characters D. paraphyly

_________4. A branching diagram that represents the proposed phylogeny or

evolutionary history of a species or group

A. genogram C. kinship
B. cladogram D. pedigree
_________5. Based on the cladogram above, which of the following species has hair?

A. Species IV C. Species III

B. Species II D. Species I
Activity 17.2
PRETEST
1. clade 1. B
2. outgroup 2. B
3. ancestral traits 3. B
4. derived traits 4. C
5. cladistics 5. A
6. cladogram
Activity 17. 3
POSTTEST
1. C
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. D
RECAP
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
KEY TO CORRECTION
 R E F E R E N CE S
NATIONAL SYMBOLS OF THE PHILIPPINES – Symbols Of Our Country. “NATIONAL
SYMBOLS OF THE PHILIPPINES - Symbols Of Our Country.” Philippine News,
July 12, 2019. https://philnews.ph/2019/07/11/national-symbols-of-the-
philippines/.

Hoefnagels, Marielle. General Biology. McGraw-Hill Education. Abiva Publishing

House,Inc. 2016.

Learning, Lumen. “Biology for Non-Majors I.” Lumen. Accessed September 6, 2020.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-nmbiology1/chapter/reading-
genetic-information/.
Miller, Stephen A. Zoology. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Starr, Cecie. Evers, Christine. and Lisa. Starr. Biology: Today and Tomorrow Biology
for Non Science
Majors. Cengage Learning. 201